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The BDO board would like to further clarify the uncertainty currently surrounding the eligibility of under 18’s participating in BDO ranked events.

In keeping with their ‘darts for all’ ethos, and in light of the lack of a dedicated youth tour currently, any player under 18 years old wishing to participate in any BDO ranked event is free to do so. If they successfully attain ranking points, these will count in the rolling and the seasonal tables, including the regional tables for any male participant.

If any under 18 secures a qualification spot in a BDO special event via the rankings table, they will be offered an invitation, with the exception of the Winmau World Masters. Any under 18 qualifying for the Winmau World Masters, either directly through winning an event or indirectly through the ranking table, will be eligible to participate in the Winmau Youth World Masters events only.

The addition of a new rule, which will come into force from 1st October, to clarify the BDO’s position on youth participation will be as follows:

1.02 Age Criteria

a. In pursuance of the Objectives laid down in Section 1.01 of this document the BDO shall at all times act in the best interests of all participating players in the fulfilment of their ambitions within the Sport of Darts regardless of creed or gender and neither does it seek to discriminate against any player on the basis of age and therefore it does not seek to enforce any lower age limit on entering a BDO ranked tournament other than to recognise any restriction imposed for whatever reasons by the BDO or WDF recognised darts body under whose jurisdiction the tournament is being staged.

b. It therefore follows that all players regardless of age that have participated in a ranked tournament in compliance with the terms of entry shall be fully entitled to receive any points as won and that those points shall be placed in the respective BDO ranking table and accumulated as per procedure

c. Similarly should any such player qualify for any award or direct invitation into a special event by virtue of his/her BDO Ranking points accrual then the BDO are committed to honour such qualification or invitation unless so directed otherwise by any BDO recognised authority or under any terms of sponsorship contract appertaining to the Event in question [i.e. sponsorship of a product that is only accessible to persons over a certain age and the sponsor requires shirt advertising to be worn by all players whilst on stage or when visually promoting the event]

d. Special Events to which the foregoing shall apply being

• Men’s World Professional Darts Championships

• Women’s World Professional Darts Championships

• Men’s World Darts Trophy

• Women’s World Darts Trophy

The only exceptions would be as follows:

• Men’s and Women’s World Masters Championships which have their own Youth Sections and as such there is a natural progression from Youth to Adult

• Finder Masters which is not a BDO Event

e. The BDO Invitational Rankings System provides a means whereby all players can showcase ability, pursue ambitions and realise aspirations and those opportunities should be available to anyone regardless of age

Under 18’s will not be eligible to enter the qualifying events for either the World Professional or the BDO World Darts Trophy.

This clarification is notwithstanding any controls emerging from future sponsorship contracts.

Additionally, the playoffs for the Youth World Championships will be played as usual at the World Masters and World Professional playoffs, and is scheduled for Wednesday 3rd October 2018 at The Spa, Bridlington.

Entry for the BDO Youth World Championships Playoffs is now open Enter Now

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The British Darts Organisation organise the following tournaments throughout the year. The BDO International Open, The BDO Wolverhampton Open and Classic, The BDO Youth Festival of Darts, The BDO Gold Cup, The BDO Champions Cup, The British Open, The British Classic, The Winmau World Masters, The BDO World Youth Championship and The Lakeside World Professional Darts Championship.